| Author: | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: April, 2012 Location: Dartmouth Nova Scotia Canada Posts: 1,020 | | Review Date: January 22, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $7.50
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Macro settings | | Cons: | Rear lens Flange incompatible with digital cameras | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-70, K100D
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Picked this lens up at a local 2nd Hand charity reseller for the amazing price of $10 CAD
Not expecting much for $10 I was surprised how sharp the optics are with the Macro Option as an added bonus, a rare option on a zoom lens.
I too wasn't happy when the lens would attach to my film bodies but wouldn't attach to my Digital bodies and would sell the lens when it came time to divest of my film cameras.
After reading that the lens could be attached to a digital body with the back flange removed I began to look at the lens a little closer to see if there was another solution. After comparing the camera mount to other legacy manual lenses that do fit on a digital body. I discovered that the vertical guide that helps align the lens with the Bayonet parts of the mount was much longer than on other lenses. I then filed a section of the guide down to the same height and the rest of the base and back to the beginning of the closest bayonet connection. 10 to 15 minutes later I had another legacy lens in my bag.
Here is a photo of the modification made to the lens, along with some photos taken with the lens attached to my K70
 | | | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2020 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: September 19, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $70.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp | | Cons: | vignetting wide open | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon AE1 Canon 5D Mark 3
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Great lens, underrated company. Kobori made some great lenses, glad I was able to find an actually Kobori branded lens named the Koboron.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2017 Posts: 9
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 25, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $5.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | low weight and cost | | Cons: | what are you expecting | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K1 mk1
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  My grandaughter asked for a film camera for a school project. For 20GBP +postage I received a film body and 3 lenes. The Korobi has a good review so I tested it on my K1 and was impressed.
Was is as good as my Pentax 60-250 f4 A*, well no. The Pentax at f4 was always sharper than the Korobi at any aperture.
Was the macro as good as my Pentax 100mm f4, well no. OK for an HD screen image but nothing else.
Can I get an acceptable A3 print from a fullish frame, probably yes.
Do I routinly take the 60-250mm on a landscape shoot, well no.
The 80-200 is half the weight, much smaller and more robust. So yes, I will take it on a landscape shoot unless I know in advance that I will be looking for longer than 100mm.
Before spending on the Pentax 60-250mm I tried a few cheep old longer lenes. From memory, the vivitar 80-200mm is by far the best and is an 'A' lens so I will keep and use it.
It all depends what you use a lens for and your expectation.  | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 6,381 | | Review Date: May 20, 2015 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Zoom lens with good macro/close focus capability. Sharp on screen. | | Cons: | Difficult to assess; my copy will not stop down. Nasty CA pixel-peeping at f/4. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 5
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Pentax K-5.
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My copy of this lens was a gift, given as-is without promises, and I discovered that it would not stop down at all. The remainder of my remarks must be interpreted in that context.
The aperture ring is marked 4 to 22 and the lens appears to be a true f/4.0, with no betraying change in shutter speed required from the camera on zooming in. Filter size (one came fitted) is 55mm.
The image in the focal plane appears quite sharp, even when viewed on a fairly large computer screen. The lens has macro capability (1:3.4) at the wide end and has one-touch controls for both zoom and focus. Because of this I cannot tell if I am accidentally shifting focus a little when I zoom in or out, but it does not quite appear parfocal.
In line with a number of other old lenses on newer cameras, this lens required some exposure compensation to give an eyeball-accurate result; approximately +1.0 EV is a good suggested starting point.
A macro photo of the edge of a sign at f/4 shows sharp detail in the plane of focus but an utterly smeared-out distant background with no recognisable detail, which is why I gave it high marks for bokeh.
Chromatic aberration is easily seen on even moderate zooming-in on screen, but I have no way to assess how well this would clear up on stopping down. When viewed as a "fill screen" image rather than "actual size", CA is minimal and not a distraction if you aren't looking for it.
Distortion (barrel or pincushion) doesn't appear to be an issue, taking a brick wall as my subject.
As others have found, the rear flange requires removal or alteration to be usable on a DSLR. I chose to unscrew it and do without it.
The only similar lenses I have which cover this zoom range and might be used as a comparison are a K-A mount Sigma 70-210mm, which starts at f/4 but stops down to f/5.6 by 210mm, and a DA Pentax 18-250 which is also well stopped down from its f/3.5 minimum by this point. From this point of view, the constant f/4 maximum aperture of this lens gives it an edge.
Despite the fact that at least one reviewer has described this as being a K-A mount, my lens fits within the 77-series serial numbers described and yet does not have A mount capability. The rear mount is conductive, not anodised, and the green button stop-down method will work without issues or need for alteration.
Not one for the pixel-peeper or the maker of large prints, but those who want pictures for their browser or desktop or who never print bigger than a 5x7 will probably be well served. In the absence of anything else, I would recommend this lens.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: March, 2014 Posts: 27 | | Review Date: April 23, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Lightweight, sharp, usable at f4 | | Cons: | aperture shape | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax KX
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This lens might be what they call a 'hidden gem'. I wanted a good tele zoom that is lighter and shorter than the series 1 to accompany my Panasonic GH3 and my old Pentax KX and KM, with fixed aperture and macro. The weight is 600g, the length is 128mm so I think it is one of the smallest/ lightest metal zooms around. It was made by Kobori in the early 80's.
Here are the specifications;
Focal Length: 80mm-200mm
Aperture range: f4.0-f22
Optical construction: 12 elements in 9 groups, multicoated
Angle of acceptance: 30-12 degrees
Minimum focusing distance from film plane: 0,4 m
Maximum reproduction ratio: 1:3.4
Filter size: 55 mm
Maximum barrel diameter: 63 mm
Length at infinity: 128 mm
Weight: 600 g
positive;
-It sometimes shows slight CA when used at f4, but I only notice it at the tele end around highlights (tested on the GH3 with cropfactor 2). In other cases f4 looks fine. On a full frame camera I can imagine CA's are not a problem at all.
-The sharpness at f4 is impressive; no problem to shoot macro at f4! Even with the ETC enabled on the GH3 (cropfactor 5! for videoshots) a macro shot looks fine at f4. At f8 the lens is supersharp.
-Contrast is fine, best around f8. The lens doesn't suffer from flare, I can use it without hood.
-Nice colours.
-Zooming and focussing are smooth, so great for video.
negative;
The aperture shape has these rough edges until f11. Most people don't like that, but I think it can give something extra to the image in case it is visible on the picture. If you don't like it just use the lens wide open or at f11 and beyond.
This lens deserves a 10 for value, since you can get it for much less of the costs of a series 1 zoom, and I wonder if the quality is so much less. Sorry for the strange subject of examples but I don't like shooting ducks, dogs, cats & flowers for testing... Notice the minor improvement of sharpness in the focused area.
80mm macro at f4.0 (on M43 body)
80mm macro at f8 (on M43 body)
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2013 Posts: 14
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 8, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very sharp zoom lens | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 8
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a great lens for portraits. macro and nature shootings.
stiopped down a few to f8 best sharpness
love it very much
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: September, 2010 Location: MD Posts: 1,029 | | Review Date: December 27, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | decent zoom, macro capable | | Cons: | flange needs to be removed | |
Not a great lens but not bad either... A solid, heavy lens; for use on Pentax, I did need to cut away flange. (Flange is held in place by 2 small screws. Removed the flange, cut away the aluminum flange, used dremel to smooth down, touched up w/ black >> all good! Check the photo)
Nice to have F4 across whole zoom, but it does go to F22.
Focus throw (? ie, degree to which lens can be turned to focus) is not large, but it seems to focus fairly easily.
I have no reason to use this as a telephoto in place of my 55-300mm kit lens which is lighter and sharper, but it works well as macro lens.
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